Considering the franchise's familiarity with the latter, the decision is understandably difficult.

But as the Texans' decision-makers ponder this move and its repercussions, they shouldn't overthink it.

I believe it was an early urban domino philosopher who first said, "Study long, study wrong."

On Thursday, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper decided to draw attention to his third mock draft by putting linebacker Khalil Mack from the University of Buffalo to the Texans at No. 1. A few weeks ago, Kiper thought Mack would be taken No. 7. (No, Buffalo hasn't played any games recently.)

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That means three quarterbacks, two offensive linemen, a defensive end, a wide receiver, a linebacker and a partridge in a pear tree have all been picked by some noted mockster to be the wisest move for the Texans at the top of the draft.

Stop the madness.

It is this simple:

The Texans should draft Teddy Bridgewater.

I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I did some investigating to reach that conclusion.

Glowing reviews

In recent weeks, I have talked to more than a dozen scouts and coaches - college and pro - to gain more insight on the top candidates. While they offered various opinions on who they would take, not a one said Bridgewater would be a bad choice.

He is the only player to get a passing grade, an "A" in fact, from everyone with whom I spoke.

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University of Houston defensive coordinator David Gibbs, who has 15 years of defensive coaching experience in the NFL, said prepping for Bridgewater was a particular challenge because there is no weak point to attack.

Most college quarterbacks have a blind spot. Not Bridgewater.

Throughout a tape breakdown of Bridgewater against the Cougars, Gibbs kept saying, "See, that's exactly what they ask NFL quarterbacks to do," or "That's just what they coached him to do."

Bridgewater ran Louisville's full-field read, West Coast system with such command that it is obvious he was in complete control of what happened on the field, from changing plays at the line of scrimmage to determining protection schemes for the offensive line.

Not that other college quarterbacks can't learn to do it; it's just Bridgewater already has done it.

"He had a check system with a myriad of options and he always had the ability to check out of a bad play, from run-to-run, run-to-pass, pass-to-run, whatever," former Louisville offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson said. "And we had the same kill system used in the NFL.

"My job was to try to beat the defensive coordinator Sunday-Thursday. I gave him the chalk to beat the defensive coordinator on Saturday. He would go out there and orchestrate it, and he did an unbelievable job. The most efficient QB I've ever had."

Bridgewater, who earned his college degree in three years, was so proficient in the Cardinals' offense that offensive line coach Dave Borbely once asked him to teach the protections to the line.

"He wanted his players to know the offense like Teddy, because he knew every detail," said Watson, who is now part of former Louisville coach Charlie Strong's staff at the University of Texas. "Players said to him that 'hearing (Teddy) talk was like listening to you talk.' "

Watson hopes his Longhorns quarterbacks learn from Bridgewater, as he has been showing them tape of the 2012 Big East Offensive Player of the Year as a "how to" guide.

Beyond the X's and O's

Being a good player at the most important position ought to be enough, but we know it isn't. Bridgewater is more than that.

Those close to him say he is a dedicated young man who sets goals and works hard to achieve them.

He wants to be great. He never stops learning. He isn't afraid to ask questions.

That he wanted the spelling of my name at the end of a phone interview, so that he would know who he had just talked to, says something about the young man.

That he asked the NFL teams he met at the scouting combine what he could improve in his game to better fit in their system says even more.

"At the end of the day, it's all about getting better," Bridgewater said. "I was able to gain some knowledge. If there is something I need to work on, I need to know. And I'm going to work on it."

Early in their relationship, Watson asked him how he wanted to be coached.

"Hard."

What's hard to you?

"I want you to demand excellence out of me."

"Playing the position, you have to be able to handle a lot," Bridgewater said. "I showed I'm able to handle a heavy load and a ton of responsibility, not only from a quarterback's standpoint, but from learning what a coach is thinking and trying to be that coach on the field. You have to play smart to do that, you have to know the entire offense, where everybody is supposed to be, know defenses and what they are trying to do and know what the coach expects from you."

Size, speed no concern

Bridgewater isn't just intelligent. He is an accurate passer with a more than adequate arm, and he is a better athlete than most think.

"Honestly, if we had depth behind him, he could have been a spread quarterback, easily," Watson said. "We had to choose-and-pick places we wanted to run him because of the situation. He's got good receiver, not great, but good receiver speed."

Bridgewater told me he expects to run between 4.6 and 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash at his Pro Day on Monday.

The only negative brought up about Bridgewater was size. He is 6-2 and played at around 205 pounds at Louisville last season.

Size does matter in the NFL, but balance that criticism of his frame with the fact he played at 218 pounds the year before.

He had surgery on his jaw to fix a dental-bite issue that prevented him from eating solid food for two months last offseason.

He weighed in at 214 pounds at the combine.

"He'll carry 220-225 easy," Watson said.

Scouts mentioned that Bridgewater's hands, while big enough, aren't especially large (9¼ inches). He played with gloves at Louisville, but the Miami native did so because he found the weather was chilly at spring practices and Watson made him wear them all the time, except in rainy weather.

In three years as a starter, Bridgewater lost only two fumbles.

As for toughness? He showed plenty in a 2012 loss to Connecticut.

Toughness aplenty

Bridgewater was under duress the entire game - sacked five times, with no running game (28 yards on 27 carries) - but he kept battling and threw a touchdown pass with 21 seconds remaining to help Louisville overcome a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and force overtime.

Oh, did I mention he sat out the third quarter to be fitted for a cast because he suffered a broken wrist in the first half?

He also suffered a sprained ankle in overtime but returned to play the next week wearing the cast and with a slight limp, leading Louisville to a conference championship-clinching victory and a BCS bowl bid.

Oh, the kid is a gamer.

Intelligent. Athletic. Driven.

He might not be flashy, but he could be an NFL star.

"I can't wait to see what he becomes, because he'll be a franchise guy," Watson said. "He has franchise written all over him because of his character.

"I think for a guy to become a franchise guy, he's got to first have the skill set and most importantly he's got to have the character to realize that skill set.

"Teddy Bridgewater's got the character and the skill set."

And the Texans have the No. 1 draft pick.

They shouldn't overthink it.

Listen to "The Rush" with Jerome Solomon and Dave Tepper weekdays from noon-2 p.m. on 97.5 FM.